The Way of Love
by Zapenstap
Summary: After the Curse is broken, Yuki decides to make his own life decisions and chooses to go to college of his personal choice. But what is he going to tell Tohru? Kyo is terrified, but he wants the one he loves in silence to be happy...
1. Default Chapter

Way of Love

Chapter One

By zapenstap

            Sunlight streamed through the open doorway of Shigure's house, spilling onto the floors and brightening the walls as Yuki stepped inside on light feet, his shoes left toe-by-heel right outside the door.  Without turning, Yuki shut the door behind him, feeling the warmth of daylight against into his white shirt as he closed the door softly with both hands behind his back.  Shigure knelt at the table, a pile of books by his left wrist and his reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of his nose.  He looked absorbed in what he was doing, smiling one of those internalized, thoughtful smiles that softened his expression whenever he was indulging in a quiet moment alone.   His more infamous social antics he reserved for when he was enjoying the companionship of other people, relating to those he loved most by harassing them whenever possible.  He did it so well because he knew them so thoroughly, especially his family, particularly the young people.  Yuki smiled.  How strange, that it had taken him so long to realize just how much Shigure cared… about everything.

            "Did you come to tell me something?" the older man asked in his calm, I've-been-reading voice.  

            "I thought you should know," Yuki said, refraining from kneeling across from Shigure for polite conversation because he meant to say this only in passing, "what I decided."

            Shigure looked up, removing his glasses.  "That's an unusual tone for you, Yuki.  What is it you have decided?" He paused when Yuki didn't answer, and they both waited in the silence, thinking about so many things that could not be put into words.  Shigure spoke what they were both thinking.  "Now that the curse is broken, everyone is having to adjust." 

            It was not a question and required no response, but Yuki reeled silently from the words.  The curse was broken.  It still surprised him, to hear it said, and to really understand that it was true.  It wasn't until the curse was gone that he realized how much he had depended on it all his life.  The after-effects were constant: the relief, the confusion, the feeling of being stripped of his soul, his identity, and being liberated at the same time.  The curse had been broken and now all that was left for them was life, a life with any future they could imagine, if they dared to live it.   Shigure watched him think with that knowing smile, a smile that was full of understanding, and affection, and the fondness of someone committed heart and soul to his welfare, his and everyone's.  "So," Shigure continued, prompting him to finish. "You have decided something.  I guess that is not surprising, but… I don't suppose it involves Tohru at all?"

            Yuki looked away.  The feelings he had spent so much time analyzing since the curse was lifted were still there, buried deep in his heart and burning sweetly like soft embers.   Why was it so hard to talk about what was most important? Why was it that he could carry on inane conversations everyday and yet struggle so tremendously with explaining that which moved him most deeply?  But it had to be done.  He had to tell her what he felt, for better her worse, if anyone was to be happy at all in this new life…or was it still the same life?  "It does," he said. "In a way.  I'm going to talk with her this afternoon, but I thought I should let you know first, in case…in case things go differently than I expect."

            "I see," Shigure murmured.  "So this isn't just a confession.  Why don't you tell me just what it is that you have decided then?"

            Yuki struggled with himself, choosing his words carefully, taking the time to strengthen his will.  Speaking up…about things that were most important…It was still difficult.  "Do you remember that scholarship money?" he said at last.

            Shigure's expression changed, altering to that light-hearted school-boy's charm, the one that reeked of mischief.   The tension Yuki had felt in his gut a moment ago was replaced by familiar suspicion.  Shigure's smile was too happy to take lightly. "Of course I do!" Shigure sang.  "Well earned, and not because of your dashing good looks this time either! Good grades.  High participation.  And most importantly, the essay I helped you write..!"

            Annoyance obscured the difficulty of speech. "_You_ didn't have any hand in writing it! I just had you read it for errors!"

            Shigure laughed, rocking backward and waving a hand.  "A gave a few pointers! A few pointers!"

            "Shigure!"

            "All right. All right." He wiped a tear from his eye and relaxed again into his I'm-such-a-good-listener mode.  "I'm sorry.  What about it?"

            Yuki eyed him askance, wondering after all if this was the best idea.  But no, he had made this decision, and he was going to carry it through in full.  "Awhile ago," he began in his usual tenor, "before I even knew if it was possible, before the Curse was broken, I mean, I was accepted into my first choice of a University.  And I…"

            Shigure's humorous smile melted away.

            Yuki took a breath.  "…and I'm going to go.  I decided on my own, without my mother's influence, or yours, or anyone's.  I think that this is what is best for me, what I want most."

            "Yuki…" Shigure started to interrupt.

            "I know it's far away," Yuki continued quickly.  "One reason, actually, that I chose that school.  But now that it comes to it, leaving I mean, I find it to be more difficult than I thought.  I'm not even really sure I can do it, but I am going to try, to go out into the world on my own and be… whoever I can be.  Only, Shigure, I want to do it without any help, without any help at all from the Sohma family.  I'm telling you what I plan, but I want to be…on my own.  No financial assistance.  Or anything else.  That's what I have decided for myself."

            Shigure had half gotten up, but now that Yuki had finished, hands clenched, spine straight and shoulders tense, he relaxed, staring at the tabletop between his hands.  "Well, well," he said.  "I must say I wasn't sure you would really do it." Yuki's head jerked up, his mouth agape.  He was startled by the statement, surprised that Shigure had known anything about it all, but by his tone, he had.  Shigure smiled at him. "I look through the mail, of course," he explained.  "I saw your acceptance letter and your reply.  Well, I must say that I'm proud of you, Yuki.  And if this is what you have decided you have my full support.  Does your mother know?"

            "I told her.  She's not thrilled. It wasn't _her first choice, you know.  But she… I think it will be okay…eventually. She will come to accept it."_

            "And Aya?"

            "I thought I would let you tell him.  My train leaves tonight."

            "Tonight?"  Shigure fingered his glasses on the table and shook his head slightly.  "It must have been an agonizing decision to wait until the last minute.  Well, I suppose I can do that.  He'll want to see you off, though.  I don't suppose you will allow it?"

            Yuki's response was dry. "I don't think I could stop him if I wanted to."

            Shigure gave him an odd look, and Yuki felt the resonance, a swift stab in his heart that dried out his mouth, a response that struck him perhaps because he wasn't sure he _didn't_ want Aya to.  To have someone love him, even someone completely exhausting like Ayame, someone who would always be his brother no matter what he did or how little they got along, to have someone so self-motivated to care about him…it was comforting, in a moment like this when everything else seemed so unsure. 

            "And what about Tohru?" Shigure asked with swift suddenness.  The horrifying fear that Yuki felt in his stomach at that question was immediately swallowed by an altogether different emotion when Shigure added, "and have you told Kyo?"

            "Why would I tell that stupid…!" The words failed, clipped off sharply as he remembered suddenly that Kyo was not "the Cat" anymore, though cat he would always be in Yuki's mind.  Still, the justification wasn't quite there.  The excuse to be rude was not quite so excusable.  "No, I didn't tell him," Yuki said. "I don't see why I should, except…" He paused, remembering what else he had planned, thinking things through.  He had hoped to just leave it, and let it work itself out, but perhaps that was the coward's way out.  He thought of Tohru, and wondered how Kyo might feel when he heard, especially if he was not warned, and warred with himself on what was the right thing to do.  "Maybe I should say something."  He eyed Shigure out of the corner of his eye as he looked through the window.  Stubbornness settled in and he narrowed his eyes grimly. "I'm not going on the roof, though."  A ridiculous image. 

            "But he's not on the roof," Shigure replied with a squint-eyed cherub's smile.  "He's training out back.  He's seems even happier to punch air alone now than he ever did fighting you."

            "He can punch air for the rest of his life as far as I'm concerned," Yuki said darkly.

            "Now, Yuki…"

            "All right," Yuki said with a bit of a snap.  His fist went automatically to his hip, a gesture of indignation and a habit he couldn't quite shake.  "I'll do it."

            "And Tohru?" Shigure prompted again.  He paused, a tinge of seriousness coating his tone. "What are you going to talk about?  Are you going to say goodbye, or… are you going to ask her to go with you?"

            Yuki's arm relaxed at his side, but the rest of him stiffened.  "That…That isn't any of your business."  He paused for a moment and then made for the door, moving more swiftly than he had coming in.  He opened it roughly, feeling Shigure's wince behind him, but the door was not damaged by Yuki's strong, yet controlled hands.  "If you see her," he said, hiding his eyes behind his hair, "when she gets back from the store, will you tell her I'm in the garden and I'd like to speak with her?"

            "Can't ask her yourself?" Shigure said, smoothing his chin between his thumb and forefinger.  "I suppose it _would_ take some nerve." He smiled excitedly.   "But you know me!  I'm always trying to help out a little romance!"

            Yuki glared through narrowed eyes.

            "All right.  Don't get huffy.  I'll send her out to the 'secret base' when she gets back."  If Shigure had any other thoughts, guesses or concerns he didn't voice them.  Yuki wasn't surprised in the least.  He remembered the days when the base really was 'secret' with quiet envy.

            "Just tell her," Yuki said, and suppressed a sharp stab of feeling.  "What I have to say is too important to be casual, so please attempt a little tact for once in your life."

            "I can only try!"  Shigure exclaimed.  "I don't suppose you've written her a poem?  Or a love letter?  If you have, you ought to let me read and correct it for…!"

            Yuki shut the door closed behind him with a resounding slam.

            When Shigure was alone he relaxed his exuberant glee to the simple happiness her really felt and settled back on his heels and into in his small smile.  His books lay opened and abandoned on the table as he stared at the door that Yuki had walked through.  He had an idea of what Yuki was going to say to Tohru. He had been watching all this time and he could see the subtle changes among the members of this household: the gestures and smiles and the light touches that spoke volumes in such simple movements.  He wasn't sure if Yuki was really going to be able to do it, though, and worried at the consequences if he lost his nerve.  It was such a difficult thing, and a feeling he knew himself too well, but it had to happen.  It couldn't go on without change forever.  This was no longer a stagnant environment.  This was a place for things, and people, to grow.  He hoped it would be easier now, with the curse gone, in some small ways, but even without the curse there was still so much about life that had to be worked through, bit by bit.  And they would all do it, bit by bit.

            With a quiet sigh, Shigure returned to his book, sliding his finger down the page to find where he had left off.  Out in the yard he heard Kyo cursing and suppressed a quiet chuckle.  What a day this would be.  He promised himself for the hundredth time not to interfere, to let things be as they would be.  Yuki was right.  It wasn't his business.  Besides, he had pushed and guided those kids as far as he safely could.  Some things just had to be done by the people involved, and the matter of love—and heartbreak—was one of them.

*****

            Kyo wiped sweat from his brow with the towel hanging around his neck and paced a little to cool off.  He didn't allow himself to stop and think too much, even now.  There was so much thinking to do, a lifetime of adjustments to make.  Everything he had known, everything he had believed in, all of it broken apart and scattered like shards of glass.  It was an invigorating feeling, and a terrifying one.  He was no longer "the Cat," anymore, but in some people's minds he always would be, perhaps most especially his own.   He took solace in the things that remained the same, and hope in the things that had changed, continuously surprised that not everything had changed for the better like he thought it would.  No longer being cursed did not fix broken relationships or smooth over the faults in an ignorant and unforgiving human race.  He was still estranged from his father, his real father, and it took a lot of effort to give a damn, even now, though there was something in him that wished it wasn't so, simply because the bitterness was a difficult emotion to live with.  His mother was still dead too, and though he no longer blamed himself, it saddened him to remember her and wish about how it might have been.  Like Tohru must, whenever she thought of her mother.  He avoided thoughts of Tohru.

            It wasn't just him, it was the whole of the Zodiac, each of them bewildered by no longer being part of a cursed group, like a unit of soldiers after the war was over, disbanded but still bound together because they once _had been.  Only, Kyo was part of this group, accepted into this group, because he had been cursed and now he wasn't; that and not the memory of some silly banquet was the only shared element needed for admittance into a unit of people who were lost and shipwrecked on a beach after a long and tortuous journey at sea.   He still thought of everyone else the same way he always had and perhaps always would.  The Dog, the Cow, the Rabbit, the Rat…  Nothing particular about them had changed.  It astounded him how mental it all was, and perhaps had always been.  Even he was still the same in most ways.  He still hated the rain, and his hair was still orange, and he supposed he would always have a temper, though he was learning to control it.  Big changes, wishes come true, and still such constancy, except for the bewilderment of new days stretching out endlessly before him. _

            He had a future.  He had it in part thanks to that girl, that silly, sweet, idiot girl that was currently at the store, probably forgetting what she went out to buy (eggs, he remembered) and thinking about them, the Sohmas, and her family and her friends and never giving a thought to herself.  What an idiot.  Tohru Honda. 

            It was best not to think too much.  He scratched his head and then lifted the towel to his face to wipe off the remaining sweat, but then stopped, staring at the blue sky, white clouds drifting listlessly overhead.

            "What are you staring at?  I suppose this is your idea of intense training."  Yuki's voice, full of condescension.

            Kyo heart sped up with the shock of surprise.  He jumped and then bristled, every muscle tensing until he was rigid with explosive rage.  Whirling, he shouted, pointing an accusing finger with whip-crack impulse.  "And I suppose that sneaking up on people is _your_ lame excuse at a sense of humor! Why don't you wipe that contemptuous smirk off your face and come down here instead of that hiding behind that girly face of yours!"

            Yuki narrowed his eyes and Kyo stiffened from his shoulders to his knees, gritting his teeth in anger that was directed at Yuki but also at himself for failing again to control his anger.  It was always like that, whenever he blew off at anybody, but Yuki was especially conductive for Kyo's unrestrained rage. Kyo braced himself, not knowing if Yuki was going to accept his challenge or brush him off.

            He got annoyance.  "Oh shut up.  I'm not here to fight with you."

            The explosion renewed with refueled energy.  "Then what the hell are you here for?" 

            Yuki stood on the steps of the house, arms hanging loosely at his sides, white shirt sleeves unbuttoned a pulled up above the wrists.  He just stood there like that, waiting.  "I wanted to tell you something."

            "Eh?" Kyo blinked, relaxing his guard.  When Yuki still said nothing, impatience slipped into anger under that violet-eyed stare.  "What?  Tell me what?  What do you got to tell me?"

            "I'm going away."

            Yuki didn't move and neither did Kyo. Kyo paused with one fist in the air.  "What are you talking about?  Where are you going to go?"

            "I'm going to school," Yuki said.  "My train leaves this evening.  Shigure thought I should tell you."

            Yuki watched him and something in his gaze was significant but Kyo couldn't connect the meaning to the words. What did he care if Yuki was going to some fancy university for a few years?  Yuki just watched him with those large, girly eyes of his, long lashes and a soft shine set in a face too pretty for a boy, all quiet politeness, modest strength and gentlemanly charm.  Every girl's dream… and a damn annoyance whether he was—had been—the Rat or not.  But under the surface there was all that lack of confidence and uncertainty, all that childhood angst and adolescent social complex, everything that Tohru Honda understood as she seemed to understand everyone and everything.  

            And then Kyo understood.

            Tohru Honda.

            Without another word, Yuki turned and walked back inside the house, shutting the sliding door behind him.

            Kyo's mind went blank, his brain numbing with a chill that quickly spread throughout his entire body.  The uneasy tremble in his stomach had less to do with Yuki's leaving and more to do with… 

            "Tohru," he whispered. His voice was quiet, the anger stolen.  In his mind, he saw her smile, that goofy, wide-open smile that made him think brightly about the world.   And so it was for Yuki.  And the one thing that would make her sad, the one thing that would tear her heart, was hurting one of them by choosing one of them.  And she always was so happy all the time.  She was happy being together with both of them, and she didn't want to hurt either of them by choosing one of them, and she would want to remain that way.  Or, maybe it was just him that wanted her to remain that way.  Happy.

            "You damn Rat," he said under his breath, knowing that the title of useless and not giving a damn at the moment.  His fist clenched as he tried to physically grip his rage.  Making her choose, hurting her heart… He clenched his fist tighter and then slowly exhaled, slouching and slumping to the ground on both knees.  Yuki wasn't trying to make her choose or trying to hurt her.  Kyo admitted that to himself with annoyance but he admitted it.  Yuki wasn't like that.  He was always the gentlemen with Tohru, as much as that bit.  But he was leaving, and he had to talk to her and he would have to tell her something about his feelings, and knowing Yuki, it would be the straight and simple truth.  Yuki would tell Tohru in that quiet, safe, affectionate voice that he loved her… and she would say…she would say…

            Kyo leaped to his feet.  "I don't care _what_ she says!"

            Why did he hurt so much?  In all this time he had not seen Yuki hurt this way. Kyo could talk to Tohru too, of course, right now, but he couldn't because he was afraid. She frightened him.  He was terrified of hurting her, of forcing her will when she was so easily led, of not measuring up to what she expected, of misusing her or troubling her or doing anything other than loving her.  She was so simple and sweet and brave and kind, but she was such an idiot she needed somebody to watch out for her and pave the road clear of bumps and potholes so she wouldn't trip on her klutzy feet.   Kyo knew that Yuki was smarter than he was, and better looking, and more athletic, and nicer and safer and more controlled and what's more, he needed Tohru too.  They both did.  They both loved her.  It irritated him but he knew it was true. How could anybody not love someone as selfless and caring and sweet as that wide-eyed…?  He rubbed his hair furiously.  Tohru wasn't even stupid; she just never thought things through.  She just wanted to care for other people, for everyone.  Shigure was right with all his obnoxious joking.  Tohru would make a wonderful housewife, but Kyo wouldn't allow that.  He would never allow Tohru to be anybody's servant or prize or sexual…he couldn't even finish that thought.  Yuki would never treat her that way, of course, but Yuki wasn't….Yuki wasn't him.

            "She can't always be nice," he mumbled to himself.  He had feared that someday she would have to choose, but he told himself that if she pushed him away, he could take it, because he loved her.  He had no claim on her, none at all.  He was just a stray…a stray cat that wandered in and got what it was given.  He wanted her to be happy, and protected and cared for. He wanted her to want things for herself.  So she should.  She should want things, even if it was one of them, just one.  She could want Yuki… if that's what she wanted.

            He hung his head.  Rage or pain or regret warred with acceptance.  He took deep breaths, wishing for one shred of the nobility that Yuki radiated so easily, like he did everything so easily.  His heart stilled after a few minutes, winding down to a steady beat.  There was still that one clear thought in his mind, and with a willful effort, he managed to straighten and smile.  He wanted her to be happy.

            Even if it hurt.

To Be Continued…

AN:   Thank you for reading my story!  This is not my first fanfic but it is my first Fruits Basket fanfic.   Thank you very much for reading and I would really appreciate it if you would leave me a review to let me know in what way you liked the story and what more you would like to see.  Aside from just making me happy, reviews tell me if the story was liked, encourages me to write and if there's detail in the review, tells me what was good so I have an idea of what to focus on.  It also inspires me to write faster and better and I _do_ read them, every one, even way long after I have finished a story.   I tend to update in a timely manner, and this fic won't be very long.  I anticipate 3, possibly 4 chapters.  Yes, Tohru will end up with either Yuki or Kyo and that is basically the point of the story.  I know that people can be rabid about who they want Tohru to be with, and though I'm not going to say which it will be, I think that the end will be acceptable by both KxT and YxT fans.  I hope so anyway.  Maybe I'm just not that rabid myself…  Anyway, thank you again—very much—for reading, and please be so kind as to leave a review and make me smile.  ^_^


	2. Yuki expresses his feelings

Welcome back, everybody.  I finally wrote part 2 and I hope everybody returns to read it.  I spent a lot of time crafting it 'just so' and though I'm sure there are mistakes and that it could still use some work, I hope you enjoy it.  Thank you for coming back to read this story of mine and please let me know what you think.  If you like music while you read, I suggest listening to something romantic or possibly even sad.

The Way of Love

Chapter 2

By Zapenstap

            Sunlight slanted down through the forested trail, lighting the road through the trees with dapples of soft yellow light. Tohru walked with her arms around the grocery bag, clasping it tightly to her chest with both hands.  She could hardly see over the top of the bag and walked carefully, peering frantically from side to side, around the bottom edges of the bag and over the rim in a desperate attempt to avoid slamming into anything.

            "Oh… I really hope I don't trip," she said aloud to herself.  She fretted and wobbled and shifted her burden.  When her toes got caught in a pothole she swayed and then straightened and kept walking, still holding the bag securely, her expression settling into her determined face with a matching will.

            When Shigure's house appeared through the trees she walked more confidently, her feet finding their way on the familiar path through the yard.  She smiled to herself with simple delight at seeing that elegant porch and the open doors that warmed her heart with thoughts of home and comfort and feelings she couldn't quite name.  The world always gleamed with light and color wherever you looked, she told herself, if you allowed yourself to see.  Tohru's heart bubbled with joy at the clear blue sky stretching above the treetops, the twittering birds bleating their hearts out in the branches, the eye-assaulting colors in the grass and the flowers and the bark of the trees.  It was a beautiful world, so full of life and goodness, and so much more wonderful if every human soul could perceive it that way, with hope during the hard times.  So mom had said, but though mom was gone, Tohru was alive, and she carried the torch onward with every bit of her determined will.

            Tohru's heart lifted again when she caught sight of Kyo coming around the corner of the house.  "Kyo," she said with a smile that sang from her heart, not with a struggle, but with genuine happiness.  "It's so kind of you to meet me.  I…"

            Kyo's face revealed little emotion, but she caught the tension of his feelings and trailed off in puzzlement. "Here," he said, closing in on her and invading her space with helping hands.  "Let me carry that for you before you trip on a rock and smash the eggs you just bought for us to eat."

            He was depressed.  He didn't look or sound like it, but somehow she could tell.  She didn't ask what it was about though.  It wasn't polite to be so nosy all the time and lately she had been feeling a little intrusive. And she didn't want to sound negative either.  "Oh, no, no.  It's okay.  I can carry it.  I carried it all this way.  I'm really quite strong.  Really." His eyes glanced at her sideways with one of those evaluation looks that always seemed half scolding and half indulging.  His hands brushed against her arms and she loosened her grip automatically.  "Oh, well, okay," she stumbled, folding her hands over her legs as Kyo shifted the grocery bag to one arm. "It's very nice of you to help me, Kyo."

            "Oh stop it already," he told her.  "I'm not going to let you buy the food, carry it in and cook it too.  We can help each other out, you know."

            "Um…right."

            She didn't know what to say when Kyo was so nice to her.  She never knew what to say, because it felt so wonderful to hear so much kindness in his voice, to observe him exerting so much effort to be gentle and helpful.  It always made her smile to think of him in his moods, to think of him in his habits, and to witness his attempts to change them.  "But you've all done so much for me already," she added.  "You and Yuki.  And Shigure."

            He eyed her again that same way, a little incredulity and reprove mixed with intense fondness and affection.  Tohru felt her heart speed up and laughed a little shakily, avoiding those feelings.  "Uh… I mean, er…!" Calming herself, she flushed and formally bent a little at the waist.  "I'm sorry."

            "I said don't apologize," he said, turning and walking abruptly away from her with the grocery bag in his arms and his back to her.  "I don't mind helping you." 

            Tohru stared at the spot between his shoulder blades for a moment, noticing the sweat in his orange hair and realizing that he must have been training this afternoon.  If he was going to have his own Dojo someday, he had told her when she had asked, he would have to keep practicing, to get better and better, never mind Yuki now.  So he got up at five in the morning every day to train and continued in the afternoons sometimes too.  Tohru smiled to herself.  Some things never changed.

            But other things did.  The change was like the flow of water, moving sluggishly at first, rinsing away the build up of sludge, and then flowing faster and faster until the current felt a little dangerous to those not used to swimming.  Life at the Sohmas now that the curse was broken was…different then it had been.  There were changes, changes in the moods of everyone, feelings in the long silences.  Yuki and Kyo still avoided one another, but they spent a lot of time staring at nothing, and sometimes even neglected to notice when the other was in the room.  She had often seen Yuki thinking on the steps and had noticed that Kyo was more often on the roof, and even Shigure seemed a little off lately, handing Mii his latest manuscript without any fuss.  The curse, Tohru understood now, had defined the lives of these people.  Believing in it had guided their actions and emotions for so long that it was difficult to let go, even if it had been hurtful to them, even if they had wanted it gone.  It was an ailment they had depended on for identification.  With the curse came rules and roles to which they practiced pre-formed relationships and pre-determined futures.  With all that…_expectation gone, life was a little bewildering, a little terrifying, and the some of the problems that they had thought would vanish with its disappearance remained._

            "Because life is hard for everybody," Tohru reminded herself with a smile, tilting her head toward her shoulder.  "Sometimes we just need a little encouragement from the people around us.  That's why it's so important…to stay together."

            "Eh?  Did you say somethin'?"

            Tohru started out of her private thoughts.  "No no!  I just…" She lowered her eyes, flustered and not willing to meet Kyo's eyes.  He was watching her, she knew, with that practiced patience he had developed just for her.  It made her feel warm and safe and uncomfortable at the same time.  To cause so much trouble, to be cared about by someone so much… it was more than she deserved, more than she could allow herself to accept.   Particularly because it was Kyo.  Kyo and Yuki.  "I know I talk to myself.  You must think I'm strange."

            Kyo held up a hand.  "No, it's okay, really.  I've heard you do it before."  He looked at her a moment longer, standing so confrontational on the front step, towering over her contrite form.  "You're so insecure sometimes.  It's not like it bothers me that you think out loud."

            Tohru looked up at Kyo with wide open eyes that could not hide her feelings.  Kyo flushed, and turned red, and scratched behind his head with his free hand.  "Well, you know… Look, forget I said anything.  Let's just…go inside." Turning, he trotted up the steps and disappeared into the house.

            Tohru waited on the porch, frozen by her emotions, a shimmering warmth in her stomach that made her feel slightly dizzy.  She found herself wondering suddenly where Yuki was.  After a minute, she heard sounds of someone returning.  Presently, Kyo pushed the door open and stared at her from the frame.  The expression on his face was different.  It was that worried, concerned look, with the lowered eyebrows and the grim mouth.  "You're probably wondering," he said, looking off to the side.  "Even though you haven't asked yet.  Yuki's in his little garden, probably planting more leeks to choke me.  But he wanted to talk to you.  I just…thought you should know."

            "Oh. Yuki!" she said thoughtlessly, and smiled with the flush of warmth that flooded her heart, confusing her further.  She caught Kyo's eyes as he glanced at her and shifted her feet under his stare, looking down at the ground as a blush suffused her cheeks.  Her insides were all hot and disconcerted.  She found her legs strangely shaky, her stomach trembling, and shuffled from foot to foot in confusion.  "I _was wondering," she said, looking down at her hands.  "I haven't seen him all morning, and not much last night either.  I hope he's feeling okay."  She did, envisioning him in her mind, smiling at her.  Thoughts of Yuki pushed out thoughts of Kyo.  _

            "I hope he's sick," Kyo intruded into her thoughts abrasively, then added calmly and somewhat strangely, "but… anyway, he wanted to talk to you."

            Tohru blinked, catching something in the air with the repetition.  Something important?  The tone of Kyo's voice was like a whisper of sadness, or regret. "He… What about?"

            Kyo looked away, refusing to meet her eyes.  "I don't know."  But by his tone…

            Tohru wanted to ask more as a terrifying wiggle of fear wormed in her heart, but at that moment Shigure suddenly followed Kyo out onto the porch.  "Why, Tohru!  I saw the grocery bag on the counter and I thought immediately of you and your glorious cooking! When's dinner?"

            Tohru smiled uneasily.  "Uh…well…"

            "Actually," Shigure said with over dramatized thoughtfulness, one hand massaging his chin.  "Now that I think about it, Yuki told me he wanted to have a talk with you at the secret base when you came home."  He beamed a smile at her.  "So I guess I'll just have Kyo make us dinner!"

            Kyo's rage was barely contained in his affronting, threatening posture.  "Make it yourself!"

            "Now, you really don't want me to do that, Kyo.  You'll have to eat it too."  Nothing phased Shigure's smile as he flapped at Tohru with one hand.  "You go have a talk with Yuki, Tohru.  Don't worry about us.  He told me he wanted to tell you himself.  It's such a difficult thing for him, you know.  We're so proud of him."

            "I'm not!" Kyo shouted loudly in Shigure's ear.

            "Oh, Kyo, not so loud!"

            Tohru's eyes drew low in puzzlement.  "Um…okay."

            Shigure folded his arms in his sleeves and walked back into the house.  Kyo remained, watching her with such an expression on his face that Tohru felt her heart breaking.  And yet…Yuki.  She worried, and fretted, and at last turned away, her heart pounding in her stomach and in her ears as her feet marked the way toward the base in a line that gradually became more and more unsteady.  Kyo. Yuki.  Kyo.  Yuki.  Kyo.  The face in her mind alternated as she remembered each and every moment she had shared with either of them.  She hoped everything was okay.  She hoped that even now she wouldn't have to…

            _Oh, mom._

            "Miss Honda."

            Tohru stopped, folding her hands demurely in front of her.  Yuki sat on a log by the edge of the woods just a few feet away from the garden.  His eyes drew her in with a luminescent glow, his skin pale, but healthy in the sunlight.  He smiled and she smiled, so happy to see him smiling, so thankful that there was so much goodness in Yuki to smile about.  He sat with a princely countenance, a graceful posture that seemed elegant even in how casually he sat with his legs extended, and appeared chic even with the unbuttoned shirtsleeves, unevenly cut hair and a garden glove on his right hand.  He removed the glove when she approached, and smiled up at her with gentle, mysterious charm glowing from beautiful, expressive eyes.

            "Hi, Yuki.  How are you?"

            "Miss Honda.  Would you sit with me a moment?  I have…something I'd like to say to you."

*****

            Kyo watched Tohru walk away until he couldn't see her anymore.  She started at a leisurely pace, feet shuffling forward, but then she sped up, taking longer strides.  As her strides quickened he felt her worrying, even from a distance.  He leaned his head against the doorframe and prayed she wouldn't turn around.  If she did… if she did, he would be flustered, and be forced to explain, to make up something to explain why he was watching her walk away.  But he wanted to watch her.

            "Are you worried?"

            Kyo started, tensing and cringing from the sound of Shigure's voice just behind his head.  "What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?" he demanded, stepping back for space.  "What is it that makes you think you can just butt into everybody's business?"

            Shigure stood with his arms in his sleeves, smiling angelically. "Oh, just the habit of a lonesome writer, I suppose."  He opened his eyes and gave Kyo a more meaningful look.  "You didn't answer my question.  Are you worried?"

            Kyo slumped a little.  "About what?" he mumbled, gaze sliding away from Shigure.  "What am I supposed to be worried about?"

            "What will you do?" Shigure asked.  "If she goes with him?"

            "I don't know what you're talking about."  Kyo hoped the Dog—no, just Shigure—would just drop it.  He didn't want to talk about it.

            "I'm talking about Tohru and Yuki," Shigure plowed on.

            Kyo didn't answer.  If Yuki asked Tohru and she went with him, chose him…  Nothing.  He wouldn't do anything.

            Shigure watched him silently, trying to get a look at his eyes underneath the stray locks of orange hair.  Kyo didn't turn his head to help him out.   At length, Shigure let out a quiet, serious sigh, and asked a simple question.  "Do you love Tohru?  Kyo?"

            "That's none of your business!" he snapped.  "Leave me alone!"

            Shigure waved his hand in front of him defensively.  "I don't mean to interfere…"

            "Like hell you don't!" 

            Shigure continued to smile until Kyo's rage began to dissipate from pure lack of fuel.

            Tired of fighting, of trying so hard, Kyo slumped against the wall and slowly sat, sliding to the ground.  "It doesn't matter anyway," he said, looking out at the trees that Tohru had passed through, keeping up pretenses.  "I just…I just don't want her to be unhappy, or worried about anything.  So, I'm fine.  Really.  You can tell her so if she asks.  It's not a big deal.  It's just…an infatuation."

            "If you say so," Shigure said, and stepped back into the house.

            Kyo put his chin on his knees and tried to quell the queasiness in his stomach.

*****

            Yuki took a deep breath as Tohru approached him, watching her slim figure move with a little awkward shuffle toward the log he sat on.  When he beckoned she sat smoothly, as gracefully as a princess, except for the stiffness in her arms and the smile on her face that looked a little forced.  She was happy to see him, of course, but there was a slight crease of worry in her brow and specks of panic in her eyes.  He noted them with sadness, and a heavy sense of duty.

            "Miss Honda," he said again, and lowered his own gaze, unsure even now how to begin.  The hours he had spent going over this were not enough.  He wanted to be understood, and it helped that she was so good at understanding, but this was so difficult to say.  Her first name still came to his lips with great difficulty, though he had tried countless times to address her intimately, ever since he first got to know her.  The safe, polite way was just so much easier for him that whenever her first name came to his lips, he swallowed the whisper before it could escape.

            "Yu…Yuki," Tohru said, fingers tangling in her lap.  "Kyo said you wanted to talk to me."

            Yuki started, looking up at her face with genuine, open-mouthed surprise.  "Kyo?"

            He saw her stiffen.  "Well, um… Shigure said something too.  I don't know why I said Kyo.  I guess I'm just nervous."

            He smiled and took one of her hands, unknotting it from the other.  "You don't have to be nervous," he said. "What I have to tell you is important, but I don't ever want you to feel nervous around me.  I want you to be able to tell me anything, just like I can tell you all of my thoughts."

            It was her turn to look at him, following her own arm from her elbow to her wrist, to the fingers he gripped lightly in his hand by his face.  She stared into his eyes and he smiled again, thinking how wide and innocent and genuine her face was.  It was a pretty face when you knew her, a sweet beauty that glowed no matter how her hair was styled or whatever she was wearing.  "You're a beautiful person, Miss Honda," he said quietly.  

            Her stark terror was evident.

            When she flinched, he released her hand.  "I feel like I can say that to you," he said.  "And I know that you're going to deny it, but, it's true."

            "Oh no!  I'm really nothing special," she said hurriedly.  "You, Yuki, on the other hand, are really beautiful, really.  Oh, but that probably doesn't help you!  I guess I was just thinking that it's not like _I_ have my own fan club.  Not that you like having one either, I guess.  Oh, I'm doing this all wrong.  What I mean to say is that I don't have any admirers the way you do.  I'm just…"

            Yuki exhaled a small laugh.  She stopped when she heard the sound, looking at him with blinking eyes and slight tremble.  He smiled at her reassuringly.  "You do," he said.  "My whole family adores you, and… you also have admirers."

            He knew he had hit a spot because she stopped speaking, and the gradual change of color in her face told him just how much she knew that he was telling the truth. Did it hurt her, or make her feel uncomfortable, to be liked?  She wouldn't meet his eyes.  She stared at the ground before her toes and by her expression he knew she was thinking and feeling too much to be able to sort out a response.

            "Miss Honda," he said.  "I asked you out here because I need to tell you something, something that's been heavy on my heart for a long while."

            She didn't speak.  It was like she couldn't, but he knew her well enough to know that she was listening.

            "I've waited until the very last minute," he continued, "hoping for…I guess I don't know really.  The decision to speak with you has always been mine.  But it was so difficult that I just couldn't do it until I had to. So please just listen to me.  Miss Honda, ever since I've met you I felt like I've been becoming a stronger person.  It might be hard for you to understand, but before meeting you I was sometimes…contemptuous of other people and lonely at the same time.  I knew that I was better than other people at so many things, and yet I couldn't express myself, or act like I really felt, so I felt estranged from them.  But the way you have been so receptive to my feelings and so encouraging to my decisions has helped me believe in myself.  Because of you, I want to be a better person; someone who really is like the prince everybody calls me."

            "You are," she whispered, so quietly he could barely hear her.  "I've always thought you were very like a prince, in a different way then other people think, a better way." 

            He stopped, staring at her with amazement and wondering why he should still be amazed by her.  Then he smiled.  "Only around you," he told her.  "But not most of the time.  The way I treat Kyo… that's how I really feel around most people.  Kyo just allows me to feel that way openly, because I'm _supposed_ to hate him, or I was.  Don't you see, Miss Honda?  It's all an act.  Or…it was until I met you.  But I've changed.  I think I'm becoming the person I always pretended to be, and I don't dislike it, not if you approve."

            Tohru's shoulders slumped a little, and he stared, leaning down to see if she was all right.  Then he heard her sniffling, a quiet weeping that smote him softly in the breast.  "Miss Honda?"

            When he reached to touch her shoulder, she turned her head to look at him, dashing tears from her eyes.  "Oh, Yuki.  I don't know what to do…"  Her hands covered her face and she began to cry, shoulders shaking lightly.

            "Don't…don't cry," he said.  He wished he could put his arms around her, but he was afraid of that kind of closeness.  He had never held her before, not while he was cursed certainly and he couldn't bring himself to after.  His hands hovered over her, aching to pull her close but too trained to keep distance for his brain and body to allow it.  Her tears smote him in the chest and he fumbled for his thoughts.  "Whatever I did, Miss Honda, whatever I said, I'm sorry.  Please, don't cry anymore.  I can't stand it.  I've been terribly selfish.  I know I have.  But I love you with all my heart and I can't bear to see you cry like this, not over me. Please, you mustn't cry…" 

            If anything, she wept harder.   He saw her trying to stifle her sobs, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands, and choked on his own voice, hating himself for hurting and confusing her.  And when she finally spoke, gasping between cries, he heard blaming herself and it was all he could do to listen.  "Yuki, I'm so sorry!  I'm so, so sorry.  I can't choose.  I can't!  I don't know what to do.  I've thought so long and hard about it, really I have, but this one thing is just too difficult for me.  Whenever I think about it it's just too much.  You shouldn't love me at all.  There's no reason that someone like you should care about someone like me even as much as you have already.  Can't we just go back to the way it was, to being friends, and living together, and helping each other?"

            He was surprised to feel tears in his own eyes, just the barest shimmer of regret that came as he watched her weep, her face still covered by her hands.  Reaching out, he touched her hands, guiding them away from her face.  "But Miss Honda, I _do_ want that.  It doesn't have to be another way.  I've come to understand that love works things out for itself.  Please, just listen to me."

            Her sniffles stopped, turning to hiccoughs as her tears dried up.  She sat beside him slouched over, her eyes red-rimmed and glistening with the tears she had shed.  She still covered her mouth with one hand, but slowly she drew it away, swallowed once, and sat very still.

            Yuki watched her.  The nervousness he had felt was gone.  The worst, he felt, was over now.  He had tried to be tactful and avoid hurting her, but having hurt her a little anyway, he was ready now to tell her everything.  From here on he just had to explain, to reassure her, and, he hoped, make her happy again, make her smile again.  "Miss Honda," he said gently, "I've loved you for a long time, and I've wanted to be with you too, because of all the things I've said already.  You inspire me to be a better person and I've never been able to care for others the way you do until I learned it from you.  You have helped me to use my voice and decide things for myself.  Because of all that you have done for me, and because of who you are, I want you to be with me always, but you don't have to cry..."

            Tohru lifted her head, staring at him with eyes like pools of water, glimmering faintly with love and trust and hope.

            Yuki smiled at her fondly.  "…because I'm not going to ask you to choose anything.  I could never do that.  Rather, I've come to realize that the nature of the relationship I want is not what I thought I wanted for so long.  Miss Honda, you are truly the most beautiful person I have ever known, and it's true that I brought you out here today to tell you that I love you, but I also asked you to come out here today because I have to say goodbye."

            Puzzlement crossed her features, an expression he saw often on her, but not with such consternation and affection.  "Yuki?" she asked.  Her voice was so quiet, and yet the two mere syllables uttering his name managed to express all her feelings.

            "I'm going to a university," he told her, "across the country, on my scholarship and my own savings. I'm doing it, in part, Miss Honda, because you encouraged me to."

            Light sparkled in her eyes.  She sat straighter, seemingly forgetting all her tears and cries as a smile spread across her face.  "Oh, Yuki!  That's wonderful!  But why haven't you said anything?  I mean, you must have known for a long time, right?"

            His return smile was languid in comparison, but the affection in his heart stirred.  Reaching out, he curled a tendril of her dark hair about his fingers.  Her smile slackened a little, and she swallowed, reminded again of the significance of this discussion, but her eyes remained bright, waiting for his response.  "I've known," he told her, "but I wasn't sure I could do it, partly because of the curse, and after that because I didn't know how I felt about you, and how you felt about me.  But I've been watching things, and I delayed in telling you, hoping to go on with the way things were forever, but change has caught up with me.  I've realized, slowly, that the way I love you isn't as a lover, Miss Honda.  The way I need you is different than the way…"  He paused with a sense of regret, unable still to form his thoughts comfortably around that idea.  "Listen, Miss Honda, I don't ever want you to be lonely or sad, and I know that you don't want me to be lonely or sad either.  And that is the reason that there has been this delay.  I was selfish, and even though I knew my feelings were inadequate, for awhile I still wanted you to choose me, because I wanted to love you more, and I wanted you to love me more.  I felt that I needed that love from you, that preference.  But now I realize that that was wrong of me, because I will never stop loving you the way I do, nor you me, and it's unfair, even cruel, to make you believe that it has to be any other way."

            "I…" She faltered, looking down.

            He understood.  "You didn't want to choose, Miss Honda, to risk hurting one of us.  You are not capable of breaking anyone's heart and it was beyond you to be so selfish.  What I'm telling you is that you don't have to be selfish.  I am always going to be here for you, and we will always be together.  I can't claim that my heart isn't sad by this decision I have made, but I know that it is the right decision.  I just…didn't see for so long what was going on.  Because, as I have said, I was selfish, and contemptuous of other people, and because you are such a good person you couldn't risk hurting me, even if it was just my pride.  I've always expected to get the best of everything, but in this case, I still feel like I have, because I want from you for all of my life is friendship.  Miss Honda, what I'm saying is that you don't love me."

            Tohru stared up at him, her eyes wide and full and her heart on her sleeve.  "But I do love you, Yuki," she whispered, and there were tears again, welling up in her eyes.  "I really really do.  And I can't choose, but you don't have to do this.  You don't have to be so noble."

            She didn't understand, he realized.  She had resisted coming to terms with his feelings for her for so long, that once she accepted they had ever been there it was equally hard to let them go.  He knew that it wasn't noble what he was doing, for himself or anyone else, nor was it sacrificial, but Tohru only wanted the best for everyone.  She didn't understand that she wasn't hurting him by not choosing him.  Perhaps she herself didn't understand how she felt about him, not after deliberately confusing herself about it for so long.  He knew, though; he had known for awhile.  

            "It's not like that, Miss Honda," he told her, but when her expression didn't vary, he smiled. "Perhaps," he whispered, "some things can't be explained.  Perhaps… they have to be shown.  If you will allow me…"

            She didn't have time to prepare.  Tilting her chin with his hand, he leaned in softly, feeling her tremble.  Her eyes glimmered with the tears she had shed before, but she didn't move, remaining still and balanced as he kissed her, his lips touching hers in a kiss that was pure and slow and mild as milk, his fingertips just barely touching her face.  When his mouth met hers, she relaxed, the stiffness easing from her shoulders and the air exhaling from her lungs. Then he backed off, looking into her eyes, her tears gone, and whispered softly, "see?"

            She stared at him, mouth partly open, and he could see the understanding come into her eyes.  The change in her expression altered their relationship forever, and Yuki smiled, because it was what he had meant.  His kiss was not a lover's kiss, and they both knew it, because it couldn't be.  And now their relationship was changed, and he could smile, because it was to both of their satisfaction.  

            He sat back, wrapping his arms around one knee, relaxing as he let go of the fears he had held close for so long.  Turning his head, he smiled at her.  "Neither of us has anything to worry about," he explained, "because I know now that no matter what other decisions you may make, you will always love me as you always have."

            She smiled at him, a sad, but sweet smile.  "I will, Yuki.  I always will.  But," she looked down.  "I'm going to miss you, more than anything.  You'll be away for so long.  How can I be sure you won't forget me?"

            Miss him.  He would miss her, and everything about home, and something in his heart cried at the thought of the lonely uncertainty that stretched out before him.  He wished he could hold her even now, to let her know that he was scared in some ways, that he needed comfort and well-wishing, but he thought it was more important to reassure her.

            "I never could," he told her, and that was certainly the truth.  "There are a lot of challenges facing me.  I'll need your help to get through them, so you should expect to hear from me. And…if you ever need anything, I will be there for you.  You can talk to me, about anything, no matter what."   She was smiling, but he swallowed.  It was his turn to look away, and he knew that it was finally time to come to terms with what he had been avoiding, because it was time to come to terms with everything.  "And Miss Honda," he said, narrowing his eyes.  "If that stupid Cat ever gives you any trouble, any at all, you just…let me know.  Because I will be there to set him straight, but I…I want you to be happy."

            He forced himself to look at her and was surprised at how he felt when he did.  She stared at him, eyes wide with surprise, and gratitude, and tumult of emotions he could scarcely comprehend, but hoped that he would also feel himself one day, for someone special, someone who was like him in some ways and the compensation that he needed in others.  He looked at Tohru Honda and felt his heart fill up.  He realized suddenly that it was worth it, that it was all worth it, for what he gained, and lost, and given, because he saw now that she was really and truly happy.  And he was happy.  And it was love, in all its various forms and ways and changes that had made all of this possible.

            He only wished he didn't feel like he was leaving a place that finally had all the warmth and comfort he had dreamed for it to have for a place he didn't know at all.  And he wished he could have said goodbye longer, and feel better about it, but he knew that Tohru had some place else to be now.  He saw it in the distraction in her eyes.

            "The last I saw him," Yuki said with a heavy sigh, "was in the yard."

TBC

All right, so that's part two.  Yuki spent so much time beating around the bush (he's trying to be sensitive) that I hope this chapter made sense. If it didn't it will in the next part!  Possibly I will wrap it all up in 3 parts, but it might take four.  This part is even a bit longer than I wanted it to be, but sometimes that just happens.  I spent a year and a day fussing over it (ßhyperbole) and I would like to thank everybody who read the first part and reviewed to encourage me.  It _is my first Fruits Basket fic.  I know it's not terribly plot-oriented, but I'm cooking up one of those too ^_^.  This story deals mostly with K/T/Y and a little Shigure, but I love all the characters and I would like to write a fic involving and analyzing all of them, particularly Akito.   Anyway, thank you all so much for reading this story.  I really appreciate it!  Please review this chapter!_

Special thank yous go out to…

C.G: Thank you for being my first reviewer! Don't worry. The "3" didn't bother me.  ^_^

Reviewer: Thanks! But no, not enough chapters planned for a voting pole. As you can tell, it's kinda obvious where I'm going now.

Polka Dot:  oh, not a Tohru fan?  See, I just like her.  I can see why people wouldn't, but who am I kidding?  I like everybody.

In Infamous Chibi Cat:  Hey, long time, no see!  Thanks for reviewing my FB stuff!  I do try to keep it IC, as always. ^_~

Veronica:  thanks so much! But tell you how the curse was broken?  *gasp* And ruin my idea for the other story I have planned?  ^_^  As for Yuki tense, yeah, he was, but he's okay now.

Gingko:  You like my writing?  Thank you very much!  I hope you liked this part too!

Mizaya: Hey, hey.  Am I blossoming?  Really? *blushes*  Well one day, I hope so!  More zodiac members later.  Just hang on!  And Yuki IS pretty.  And tortured.  That's why I love him.  But see?  I made him happy!  

Eilonwy:  thanks!   I did.

Kmf:  Ever faithful and thoughtful, I love your reviews, kmf.  They do kinda miss the curse.  I sorta think that would be natural, I guess.  But as to what happened, I'm going to leave it a mystery for now. ^_^

R Junkie:  I like tortured Yuki too, but I'd like to think he can get better.  I like to think that of everybody, as interesting as angst is.  Thanks for the review!   I also love Yuki.  There's more of him to come.

Yingaling:  A Kyo fan are we?  What did you think of this chapter, eh?  ^_^ It's true.  I like to make my characters sad.  Oh well.

Lunar Crush:  Hmm… well, I guess you'll have to wait for chapter 3, but it's partially resolved, ne?

Incoh:  I ended at the right moment?  I try, though it may have something to do with laziness too!  At any rate, thank you for reading and reviewing this story.  It means a lot.

Miaka Mouse:  *hugs Miaka*  Ah, I know I'm exasperating, but thank you for reading!  I don't like to demonize.  This story was sorta inspired by the idea that no one has to lose out completely.

Bookitty: Oh thank you.  I'm glad you like my style b/c that's a difficult thing to change!  Please let me know what you thought of this chapter too!

Rachiru:  I'm glad you liked it!

Purrfect679:  *blushes*  Reviews like that always get me.  Thank you very very much.  I am happy you think so.  I can only do my best and hope others approve.  I try to stay IC and interesting.  Thank you for the encouragement.  It means a lot.


	3. Tohru confronts Kyo

If you don't like romantic sap and Sohma silliness, read no further!  And I have NO idea why the centering doesn't work.  All my recent stories are being screwed up format-wise.  I'm terribly sorry.  Let me know if you know how to fix it. 

The Way of Love

Chapter 3

By Zapenstap

            The sound of a door opening and sliding shut alerted Shigure from his books.  "Ah, Yuki.  You're back."

            Yuki didn't turn as he was called.  He stopped at the door to remove his shoes, his face to the wall, and then made for the stairs without a word.

            "So?" Shigure prompted.  "How did things go with Tohru?"

            "About how I expected," Yuki said, turning his head slightly to answer over his shoulder.

            Shigure was about to inquire more, but his words failed when he saw Yuki's face.  The young prince's features were blank, his eyes empty like softly blown glass, but there was hurt there, down deep and under the surface, a lonely pain that seeped from his expression when he looked away.

            "Yuki…"  Shigure said worriedly, standing up.  "Tell me what happened."

            He was fended off with a carelessly waved hand and a sigh.  "Don't touch me.  I'm fine.  I told you it went as I expected.  My train leaves in a few hours.  I have to pack."  He took several retreating steps up the stairs.

            "Will you be eating dinner?" Shigure interjected.  "I asked Kyo to make it, but it turns out Tohru had it all prepared in the fridge already.  It just needs to be heated up. I don't suppose you'd like to eat dinner with all of us one last time before you go?  She made your favorite."

            "I don't have time," Yuki said.  "I… Look, Shigure.  All those things you said before, they're just not true.  Tohru is staying here.  With him.  And I'm going to school."

            "I see," Shigure answered slowly.  "Well, it seems sad to me, that you would give up so easily."

            Yuki turned then, one hand on the rail as he looked over his shoulder, and Shigure was surprised to see a content smile on his face, albeit, a sad smile.  "I'm not giving up.  I chose this for myself.  Tohru and I will always be friends.  The hard part isn't letting her go; it's not even letting him have her."

            Shigure's eyebrows rose in surprise.  "So you knew.  I'm impressed.  What then, is the hard part?"

            Yuki looked blankly into the distance.  "The hard part is leaving myself.  I can't stick around to say goodbye anymore.  If I see them… I have to just go, before I lose my nerve.  It's just difficult, to say goodbye this way."

            "It doesn't have to be like that," Shigure told him.  "It doesn't have to feel like you're dropping your entire life up to this point, like you have to start over with nothing."

            Yuki said nothing for a moment, lowering his eyes and looking at the ground just past his feet.  "I… I have to pack."

*****

            The sun still clung to a blue sky, a shining yellow orb that hovered just above the horizon.  In a few minutes it would dip below the earth and the sky would be awash in hues of red and pink and purple.  Kyo sat on the roof where he had an excellent view, comforted by the familiar feel of a slanted floor beneath his feet, soothed by the high-rising wind that ruffled his orange hair.  His melancholy was placid and ignored.  He sat and stared at the sky without thinking, muting his thoughts to a quiet buzz that nattered behind his ears.  His heart beat dully, sometimes painfully in anticipation, but he ignored that too.

            When he saw Tohru and Yuki coming out of the woods, standing shoulder to shoulder, he took a deep breath.  Tohru saw him from a distance, as obvious as he was when outlined by a dusky sky.  She waved, one arm stretched high in the air and a bright smile on her face.  He couldn't read her expression terribly well in the fading light, but he waved back with less energy, and concentrated on forcing his heart to keep beating.  Yuki said something to Tohru and she lowered her hand, turning to listen to him.  Kyo looked carefully away.

            He purposely didn't think about it further until he heard someone climbing the ladder that led up to the roof.  

            "What are you doing?" he demanded, starting back in surprise and catching himself with his hands.  He had thought she had gone in the house! 

            Tohru stopped on the last ladder rung, blinking at him with those large, pretty eyes that at times seemed so clueless and at other times were filled with a warm and loveliness he could not entirely describe.  

            "Do you not want me to come up here, Kyo?" she asked, and her tone was oh-so-innocent, like sugar and cream. 

            He swallowed, feeling his throat catch and his blood heat up.  "It's not that.  I just thought you'd be inside."

            "Well, it's almost dinnertime," she said.  "I thought maybe you would want to eat too?"

            "Yeah, well when Shigure forced me into the kitchen to make dinner I saw that you made leek soup," he said, eyeing her sideways.  "And something else Yuki likes."

            She blinked and then rubbed her head with her fist.  "Oh, well, I guess I did.  I didn't think of that!"  She stopped, looking at him with eyes that seemed to fill up with emotions he wasn't sure he had ever seen in her face before.  He found himself staring at her, unable to decipher her expression.  "Well, can I sit with you then?  Just for a minute?"

            His heart clenched.

            _Please don't come here to say goodbye.  I don't want to lose you…Tohru._

            "I don't know," he said a little more gruffly than he meant to. "It's kinda steep and you might fall or somethin'."

            She stared blankly at him.  Realizing how stupid that sounded, considering the many times she had come up before, he floundered around for a different tactic. 

            "Uh…I mean…Ah, hell.  Yeah, you can come up."

            She climbed up the rest of the way, light and airy as a feather, and sat beside him with her arms around her knees.  She sat close, close enough that he could smell the residue of strawberry-scented shampoo in her hair and the lotion on her skin.  He breathed in the smells and closed his eyes, refusing to look at her, hoping she would speak her mind quickly and go.  He just couldn't refuse her, couldn't help listening to her, whatever she had to say, even if she babbled or cried or moped or carried on about nonsense.  He never could.  He enjoyed hearing her speak.  He just…didn't want to think of it being the last time.

            They were silent for several minutes, each looking at the roof between their feet, or the lines on their hands, studying the fabric of their clothes and the definition of the leaves in the trees at a distance.  Kyo could feel emotions growing in his stomach with every moment she stayed near and it became harder and harder not to look at her, to find excuses to touch her hand or rub against her arm or stare at her when he thought she wasn't looking.  When he did sneak in a glance, her eyes were pure liquid, staring straight down with a heaviness that was rare to see on her usually bright face.  He knew she was troubled, fighting to find words, but this time he couldn't help her, couldn't make himself encourage her to speak.  He was too afraid of what she was going to say.  But he found himself continuing to look, encouraging her with his attention.

            She took a deep breath that was like the beginning of a sob.  "Kyo," she whispered.  "I don't know how to say this."

            He wanted to say 'it's okay,' but the words wouldn't come out.  He also wanted to grab her hand, but he couldn't do that either.

            "I didn't know what Yuki was going to tell me," she said.  "I really didn't think he was going to say what he said."  She smiled a little, as if recalling a fond memory.  Kyo swallowed and remained silent, trying to just listen.  "And I… the whole time I couldn't help thinking that if either of you were hurt, I could never forgive myself.  I don't want to cause any trouble."

            "It's okay," Kyo mumbled.  "Whatever you have to do to be happy is okay with me."

            She lifted her head, staring at him with eyes that shimmered suddenly with unshed tears.  Her eyes were so close, so open and honest and innocent and full of love. He choked up, pulling back a bit, unable to face that.

            "Yuki kissed me," Tohru said softly.  

            The crushing feeling around his heart was anticlimactic.  "So are you going to go with him?" he asked numbly, so softly it could barely be heard.  "It's okay if you do.  I want you to be happy and everything."  He couldn't move a muscle, couldn't take her hand or fight to hold onto her, though his eyes remained locked on hers by a force he could not break.

            Her eyes shimmered and her fists clenched imploringly.  "Kyo, I want you to kiss me, too."

            His lips parted in surprise and he stared at her, unable to process what she had said rationally, but his fingers leaped to her face as if spurned by the spark of lightning.  Her cheeks were smooth beneath his fingertips, and he found himself murmuring "you can't have it both ways," contrary to the last as he leaned in.  His lips sought hers gently, but with a compulsive power that came from somewhere deep inside.  She leaned in, her eyelids shutting out the light, her hand rising to touch his wrist.  Warmth flooded through him as he kissed her, tilting his head to make it easier and he was surprised by how easy it was, how little he had to think about it, how natural and wonderful it felt.  And then he remembered where he was, and with who, and pulled back a little abruptly, his stomach shaking and his arms trembling with the sort of nerves that rarely afflicted him.

            Tohru's eyes were still closed as he pulled back, and she leaned in a little when he left her space before opening her eyes slowly, as if waking up from a dream.

            "Okay," he said, swallowing, trying to hide the way he was shaking. "You've got what you wanted.   If Yuki is waiting, you can say your goodbyes and…"

            "Kyo," she whispered.  Tears filled Tohru's eyes, welling up and sliding down her cheeks.  The tightness in her spine collapsed and she wilted a little, going weak under his stare.  "I'm so scared.  I don't want things to change.  I'm afraid, of Yuki leaving, of what I feel for you…"

            "Don't say things like that!" he said thickly, half yelling, and scooted back with his feet under him so that he could get up.

            Tohru grabbed onto his sleeve so that he couldn't rise and bowed her head so that he couldn't see her face.  "Kyo, I'm sorry.  I thought…" She cried, "Yuki told me he wants to be friends.  He also told me I could find you in the yard, but I saw you up here, and I…."  Kyo stopped, staring at her with open-mouthed surprised that was half amazement and half disbelief.  She raised her head, appealing to him with her eyes.  "Kyo," she whispered.  

            He sat back down slowly, compelled to be there for her if she was going to cry.  He didn't exactly process what she was saying, but if she wanted to be comforted, he could do that.  As soon as he was settled she moved her hand from his wrist to his shoulder and her whole body came with it, falling against him an embrace that was half a collapse and half a hug.  His arms went around her automatically, pulling her close, his body letting out a quiet sigh of contentment as her head fell against his shoulder.  He closed his eyes, stroking her back, and was so absorbed by her that he forgot to think how amazing it was that he could hold her now without transforming.

            "It's all right," he said.  "I'm not going anywhere."

            She mumbled against his shoulder.  "I'm not either!"

            He froze.  Was she saying what it sounded like she was saying, or was this her way of making him feel better, of doing what she had to because she cared about him?  "If this is some kind of pity...  If this is some kind of sacrifice, then you don't have to…"

            Tohru raised her head, drawing back enough to look him in the eyes, half in his lap.  He didn't have the strength to push her out.  "He let me go," she said.  "Yuki is going away.  He's going alone.  But he told me to stay here, with you, because he knew that that was what I wanted.  I love Yuki, Kyo, and I'm going to miss him, but I want to be here, with you."

            He pushed her hair out of her eyes, searching her face.  She was incapable of deceit, of lying, of doing anything she thought might hurt someone else.  There were still tears in her eyes, but she smiled a little as he looked at her.

            "Are you crazy?" he asked her.  "I mean…" He couldn't express it.  Why? 

            "I've always loved the cat from the zodiac," she told him with her kind of seriousness, so sweet and simple and sincere, one hand pressed to her heart.  She smiled a sad, reassuring smile, and reached up to touch a lock of his hair.  A breeze picked up, blowing it from her fingers, but her hand did not move.  "But even though you're not the cat anymore, Kyo, I still love you."

            He stared at her, mesmerized by every detail, and slowly understood that he had been chosen over Yuki, for some crazy reason he could not understand.   It slowly became real, and as he came to believe, his eyes appraised her with a sweetness that was the true expression of his heart.  His heart was so full, his head so stuffed with lazy thoughts, that he couldn't think or feel or do anything except let the air in his lungs circulate throughout his body.  His hand curled around his fingers, pulling her close by the arm.  "How could anyone not love you?" he told her and lifted her chin lightly.  "Tohru."

            She leaned in toward his face and he kissed her a second time, with more confidence than before, knowing where he was, and who he was with, and for some reason that only made a vague sort of sense, why he was with her.  When he pulled away, it was with sweet regret, and found himself looking at the sky, watching as the last cloud melted beyond the horizon, following the sun as it touched the top of the mountains.  Kyo pulled Tohru closer, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and allowing her to nestle close to him.  She turned in his grasp, leaning with her back against his chest and staring up at the sky with his arms over her shoulders.  

            "So…what do you want to do now?" Tohru asked him, watching the sky as he watched it.  "With Yuki going away and everything, what do you think of the future?"

            "As long as it has you in it, I don't care."

            "You wanted to take over the Dojo right?"

            He nodded, amazed in spite of himself at what had just changed so suddenly, and what had remained the same.  He supposed that people would always have to remain themselves, in love or otherwise if anything was going to be real.  She could always be herself around him.  She would always accept him for who he was.  Was that why?  "Yeah.  That was my plan.  But I'm a bit young to do that right now.  My master's an old guy, but he's not decrepit."

            Tohru pushed herself out of his embrace and stood up.  Standing, she clasped her hands behind her back and looked out over the Sohma property.  Kyo lay back on the roof, hands behind his head and legs stretched out, watching her.  

            "Maybe we could open a rice ball factory," she suggested.

            He blinked.  "A rice ball...?" His incredulity turned into laugh.  "Where do you come up with these ideas?"

            She turned to look at him over her shoulder with embarrassment.  "Um…I don't know.  I just thought, since we both like to cook…"

            "You could go to culinary school, I guess," he interrupted, musing up at the sky. "If you really wanted to do that.  I could see you making food to feed people for the rest of your life.  You know, host banquets and fancy dinners and all that."

            Tohru turned back around.  "Yeah.  Maybe.  I don't really know what I want to do, I guess."

            He looked at her.  She would be someone to love people, all people, for all the days of her life.  She would be a wife and a mother and a friend and as the years grew on her they would pass her by.  She would never quite get old.  She would always be Tohru, that strange, silly, beautiful person that he loved.

            "Just be yourself.  You'll figure it out eventually."

            When she looked at him this time it was with an expression that made his heart wrench.  She sunk back down again, tucking her legs beneath her, and looked down at the rooftop, fiddling with the patterns in the tiles.

            He watched her mope in silence for a few minutes and then sighed.  "If you're worried about that damn… about Yuki, his train doesn't leave for a good hour.  We can still make it there if you want.  Say goodbye and stuff.  It will probably cheer him up."

            She bit her lip, looking at him with such suppressed happiness that he sat up and hung his head.

            "Man, the both of you need someone to pry your thoughts out sometimes.  How many times do I gotta tell ya to just speak what's on your mind?   Yuki's going to miss you a lot.  Even if he's acting all chivalrous, he probably wants at least a hug good bye or something before he goes."

            "You wouldn't mind?"

            He looked away.  "Nah.  I'd probably better get used to sharing you with him; it doesn't look like things are going to change too much."  He scratched his head.  "I've tolerated Yuki this long.  He's really not…that bad, I guess.  I don't really like him, but if you still want to be friends with him and stuff that's okay with me."

            She smiled so sweetly in response that he wondered if he couldn't do more than that, just to see her smile.

            He sighed, climbing to his feet, and stretched out his hand for her to take.  "Well, you comin' or what?"

*****

            In a bustling crowd of people juggling luggage at the train station, of strangers elbowing for room right and left, of young people meeting and chatting and sometimes exchanging numbers and information, Yuki sat off by himself, dropped off by Shigure and Hatori.  He felt alone in a crowd.  

            He had planned to take the bus, but Shigure insisted on driving him and before he could argue Hatori pulled up with the car and Shigure began loading his things in the trunk while singing some bouncy farewell tune.  As the sun began to set on the Sohma house, Yuki cast one glance up on the roof where Tohru and Kyo were talking side by side.  Neither of them saw him and he didn't draw their attention away from each other.  When Shigure asked if he wanted to say goodbye he politely declined, reminding Shigure that they would want to be left alone, and got in the car.

            "Are you sure you don't want us to wait with you?" Hatori asked once his things were on the curb and his ticket purchased.

            To have these two older cousins stand with him, likely in silence, while he left home for an undeterminable amount of time was too much.  He wouldn't mind their company, but he wouldn't know what to say to them, or how to say goodbye when the time came.  So he told them he would be all right, that he would call once he got to the university, and bid them farewell by the curb.  When he watched Hatori drive away, his heart was heavy.

            _I should be excited, he thought.  _This is what I want.  I'm just weak.  A timid mouse even still.__

No.  It wasn't that he was afraid of going to school.  Leaving home was just difficult.  He had been bound here all his life, believing deep down that he would never leave. Now that he was finally going, he was coming to realize how much he loved his home, his family, even the people he didn't like, how much he depended on them for just knowing him, for not having to explain himself all the time.  What if he went to college and had no one to talk to, no one to come home to?  He was so used to having attention all the time, but he'd heard that people often got lost in college, that even the most popular people became obscure and it could be difficult to make friends.  Even in High School, when he was surrounded by admirers, as mistaken as they were in their praise, he had found it difficult to make friends.  Was it so strange that he'd be a little apprehensive now?  He was leaving behind the people he loved most.

            "Hey."

            Yuki looked up to see Haru standing over him, hands in his coat pockets, expression cool, his demeanor mellow.    Yuki got to his feet, surprised.  Over Haru's shoulder he could see Rin, standing just a few yards away, watching the crowds pass by and occasionally sending Haru a glance with a casual twist of her head.  

            "I heard you were leaving," Haru said.  "You didn't tell me."

            Yuki turned his attention back to his cousin, one of the people who had always looked out for his heart, and felt a curious wrench in his breast.  "I apologize."

            "You didn't want to have to say goodbye," Haru said.  "But I know you well enough to know you'd like to, so we came by, Rin and I."

            "Why did she come?"

            Haru looked away.  "Well, the streets here are like a maze to me.  I would have gotten lost without her help."

            Yuki nodded knowingly.  

            "Besides, she wanted to say goodbye too.  We both wanted to wish you luck."

            "Yuki!"

            Yuki turned, mouth parting slightly as he spotted Momiji darting between people, apologizing every few seconds for stepping on someone's foot or jostling a purse.  The blonde boy's smile was wide and welcoming as he skidded to a stop before Yuki and spread his arms wide.

            "Yuki, why didn't you tell us you were going away?"

            "Momiji, how did you…?"

            "I took the bus with some of the others, but Hatori brought just about everybody else," Momiji said, nodding happily, his hands clenching into fists that bounced with excitement and energy.  "Not the whole family, but… Oh, here they come now!"

            Yuki looked over Momiji's head to see…everybody… walking toward him.  Shigure led the way, meeting his eyes with a knowing smile, challenging Yuki's accusing stare.  But it was too late to be angry.  Hatori walked beside Shigure, his coat flung over one arm.  Beside him came a sweetly smiling Kisa and an indignant Hiro walking cross-armed at her side, ignoring Yuki entirely.  A mild-mannered Kagura followed behind Shigure with Kureno.  Ritsu trailed behind everyone, a little off to the side, his eyes growing wider by the second as he eyed the number of people crowding him on all sides.  The muted sounds of "I'm sorry.  I apologize. I'm sorry.  Forgive me.  I'm sorry.  Excuse me," whispered in his wake.

            "They had some gifts to send you off with," Hatori said by way of explanation.

            "I brought you a blender!" Ritsu shouted, rushing to the front.  Yuki jumped at the sound, his eyes darting for the speaker as Ritsy shoved a rather large and cumbersome box suddenly into Yuki's arms.  Yuki stumbled in receiving it, grunting as he adjusted his balance, unable to see around the box.  "Shigure said something about how you might need a mixer to get acquainted so I got you the best one in the store!"

            Yuki shifted his burden awkwardly and finally passed it off to Haru, who set the box by his other things.  Shigure laughed shamelessly.  "You might actually find that useful, Yuki!"

             The other gifts were more predictable and made quite a pile next to Yuki's things.  Haru produced a hefty canvas bag to store them in, arranging items in an organized fashion and telling Yuki he could keep the bag as his and Rin's gift, probably the most practical thing in the lot. 

            "I think you're train's here," Momiji said, rocking back on his heels.

            The crowd was beginning to move, lining up at the gateways, arranging themselves for entry.  Yuki smiled at everyone, pleased that they had come to wish him luck even if he wasn't going to say so.

            "Oh, YUUUUKI!"

            "Oh, Ayame made it," Shigure said with an innocent smile.

            "So it seems," Hatori said.

            Ayame burst onto the scene, posturing momentarily in eye-assaulting assortment of bright colors and outrageous fabrics, and then shoving several innocent pedestrians out of his way as he charged toward Yuki with arms extended with a dazzling flare.  "Yuki!  Brother!  How dare you try to escape without saying goodbye to your dear older brother!?"

            To his horror, Yuki found himself caught up in an embrace.  He fought, choking for air until he was released, and then had bend over to keep from getting dizzy.

            "Oh, Yuki!" Ayame exclaimed worriedly, "Can't you breathe?!  It's not your lungs again, is it?!"

            "I think it was you," Hatori said.  "But he has a point.  Don't hesitate to call me if you have any trouble with your respiration, Yuki."

            "Where's mom?" Yuki asked, surprised to find himself a little saddened by her absence, since Ayame bothered to show up.

            "Ha ha ha!  I spent all day with her today, Yuki!  I am trying so hard to mend the breach of her rejection of me!  I told her such fascinating stories about myself! A few were ones she hasn't even heard before!  Then she had the nerve to tell me she was too tired to see you off!  We didn't even go anywhere! Can you imagine that?  How could she be tired?  I think she was just sulking!  But no matter!  I am here to see you off and I will make up for her absence!  Perhaps you want two hugs from your big brother?"

            "No!" Yuki said hurriedly.  "Thank you."

            He looked over his shoulder as the passengers began to board.  It was time to go.  

            "Probably best if you get situated," Hatori said.  "Promise to take care of yourself."

            "Ha-san is right," Shigure said, "But don't take your work too seriously.  College is about a lot more than school."

            "That's right!" Ayame exclaimed.  "I expect lots of stories about all the new experiences you will have!  I want pictures and telephone calls every night!  I want details about all the parties you will attend and all the lovely ladies you will meet!"

            "Aya, I think you're scaring him," Shigure interrupted.  "You should behave yourself, Yuki, but don't _over_ behave.  You should make the most of your experiences."

            Yuki was at a loss for words, taking in all these comments and advice gifts and well-wishing in a close to bewildered state.  As for what Shigure and Ayame may or may not be implying…he wasn't going to think about that just yet. 

            "They're almost boarded," Haru said blandly.  "You'll miss your train if you don't hurry."

            Starting, Yuki picked up his bags (Momiji helped) and 'got situated' as Hatori advised.  Once his stuff was stored, he lingered outside, looking over the people who had always been in his life, some more than others, and contemplated life without them.   For some reason, he wasn't as nervous now.  After all, they would always be here.  

            "That cat and that idiot girl are here," Hiro said suddenly.  Kisa's happy smile compensated for Hiro's attitude.

            Yuki looked up with a start as the sea of Sohmas parted, stepping aside as Kyo came through the crowd, pulling Tohru behind him by the hand.  Yuki looked at the pair of them, swallowed, and was surprised when a rush of warmth spread through his body.  Kyo's face was a picture of determination.  He plowed forward like a steam roller and Tohru was dragged behind him, her expression complete bewilderment.  It was the way she had looked when Yuki and Kyo together had brought her back home after her short stay with her paternal family.  Yuki remembered and realized suddenly that things would always be like this.

            "All right, you damn…" Kyo's words faltered.  "Ah, hell.  I don't know what to call you anymore. We came to say goodbye and stuff."

            Yuki stared at Tohru, her hand clasped in Kyo's, and suddenly knew why he had tried to leave without anyone knowing.  This was the moment he had dreaded, the final goodbye that he had been afraid to face.  He had hoped to lose it in the distraction of passing Tohru to Kyo, but now that it was here, he found that he was glad, glad to see her, one last time.   And even Kyo, trying to look so aloof, so completely above coming here for any reason except to appease Tohru, made him smile.

            "Yuki, I brought you dinner," Tohru said, presenting a bento box tied up with cloth.  Something about her expression was strange, lacking the smile he was used to.  Instead, anxiousness was in her eyes, and he knew that this was hard for her.

            Yuki took the bento box, almost overcome by feelings he couldn't sort out.

            "Miss Honda," he said politely, "I didn't expect to see you again for awhile.  Thank you, for coming to say goodbye.  And for dinner.  You didn't have to go through the trouble."

            Tohru bit her lip, and then, all at once she flung herself at him.  He had a moment to collect himself, to shift his balance, to process the moment, and then Tohru was in his embrace, her arms draped around his neck, her head buried in his shoulder.  "Oh, Yuki!  I'm going to miss you!  Please, call me Tohru if you're going to say goodbye!"

            He held her, speechless, wrapping his arms around her back and pulling her close.  "I'm going to miss you too, Tohru," he whispered into her ear.  "Goodbye.  Thank you, for everything."

            "Are you going to be okay?" Tohru asked.  "I mean, with friends and money and everything?"

            Kyo stood with his fists on his hips.  "I heard Ritsu got him a blender and Ayame packed him some alcohol, so that takes care of the sort of friends he's used to, and if he needs work he can get a job at Bebe."  
            Yuki glared over Tohru's head.  "You shut up."

            "You want me to shut up?" Kyo countered, shaking his fist.  "What are you going to do about it, eh?"

            "Tohru," Yuki said, relishing in the way her name came so easily to his lips, much more easily than he thought it would, "I don't have time now, but if that cat ever gives you any trouble, don't hesitate to call me."

            Kyo bristled.  "Oh yeah?  We'll see about that, girly boy!"

            Yuki narrowed his eyes and unbuttoned his sleeve.

            "Um, the train's leaving, I think," Shigure said.

            Glaring at Kyo, Yuki released Tohru with a smile and looked up.  "Goodbye, everyone," he said, and climbed aboard. 

            Kyo was glaring at the family, assessing their expressions as everyone contemplated the separation of one of their number. 

            "What is the freakin' big deal?" Kyo yelled at them.  "He's going to be back for New Years!"

            There was a moment of profound silence.

            "Oh yeah," Tohru said.  "New Years.  I forgot."

            "Funny," Shigure said.  "So did I." He waved.  "Well, then I guess we'll see you for New Years, Yuki!  Good luck!"

            "Bring back lots of stories!" Momiji shouted.

            "I'll call you if you don't call me, little brother!  And if you don't answer I'll come visit you!"

            Yuki flinched inside the train.  As he settled himself in his seat, he looked out the window, surveying his family with contentment.  Hiro with his arms crossed, Kisa with her hand clenched around Hiro's coat, Haru's wandering gaze, Rin's dark-eyed stare, Shigure's complacent smile, Hatori's straight-laced expression, Momiji jumping up and down, Ayame trying to out-do him, Ritsu's timid wave and Kagura's friendly smile.   This was his family, whom he was actually feeling glad to leave now, but would miss by New Years.

            Kyo stood like a statue, fists on his hips while Tohru waved, a smile brightening her face.  Something about Kyo make him look in the ex-cat's eyes, and Yuki saw something there he hadn't seen before, a stare that was not hateful, nor full of vengeance, but a challenge issued to a rival with no stakes in the balance, a competition between equals that was sportsmanlike and almost friendly in its nature.  So when Yuki smiled, he included Kyo, and enjoyed that look of shock that passed over the orange-haired boy's face.

            When the train pulled away, Kyo grabbed Tohru hand again, clasping her palm with his own.  "Come on," he said.  "Let's go."

            "Oh, I see Kyo's got a girlfriend!" Shigure said slyly, and much too loudly.

            The shock that crossed the faces of some of this other family members caused Kyo to tense up, but when he turned to look at Tohru, her smile brightened the world.  She clasped his hand as she said hello to everybody as they passed through the crowd of Sohmas.  But all at once the feelings of fear and abandonment receded as Kyo caught that Shigure's joking was endearing, that his teasing was a method of acceptance.  And he saw Hatori's knowing smile, and Hiro's rolled eyes, and Ayame's excited clap.  Rin ignored them, and Haru didn't seem to notice anything, and all of it was acceptance, down to the last detail, displayed in eleven different ways among eleven different people. 

            "That's right," Kyo said as he passed through them, his anger merely a practiced front.  "But right now I'm hungry.  And there's no way I'm eating that leek crap."

            "I'll make something else for you!" Tohru exclaimed.  "Right away!"

            "No," Kyo said. 

            He stopped suddenly and she bumped into his back.  They were away from the family, but not out of sight.  He didn't care.  Turning around, he leaned in and kissed her, sweetly, discreetly, but not hiding anything.  She blinked in surprise, but when he took her hand she grasped it, a smile spreading across her face. Kyo didn't care about the eyes of his family on the pair of them.

            "I'm taking you out," he told her.  "You know, to celebrate Yuki's leaving."

            But he found that he didn't mean it, and by her answering smile, she knew it. 

Well, I guess that's it!  I managed to wrap it up in 3 after all.  I probably could have gone on and on with Sohma antics and Yuki's leaving, but I'd rather just finish it and conserve my energy for other stories.   This was my first Fruits Basket story to try my hand at writing these characters.  A lot more people read the first chapter so I don't know if the second one wasn't as good or if people just didn't return or didn't review or whatever.  At any rate, if you liked the story or this chapter specifically, please review and tell me what you liked!  I'm working on another, longer, plot-oriented fantasy Fruits Basket story called Evermore so the comments will be useful to me.  

For your information, Bebe is a trendy, girl's clothing store and the reference is a personal joke.  My friend's boyfriend watched an episode of Fruits Basket with us once and referred to Yuki later as "Bebe boy."  I haven't stopped laughing since.  Also, if you don't know much about college life, a "mixer" isn't a blender, it's a sort-of introduction party where people are invited to mingle, though drinks may be available.  However, people who have blenders at college are rare and may find it easy to make friends due to the existence of that appliance (margaritas anyone?).  The fact that Yuki is what I call "pretty," polite, uncursed and single makes good groundwork for a very interesting college life.  I may write a story about that sometime ^_~.   

Anyway, thank you for reading my story!  I really enjoyed all of your reviews and I hope to hear from you all again!

Incoherence1:  I'm glad you came back to review, even though the computer ate yours.  I'm so sad!  Hopefully it doesn't happen again! (hint hint)

Runic Knight:  Oh thank you!!  I'm glad you like my depiction of Yuki.  I tried to shower him with a good light b/c I really like and identify with Yuki, even though Kyo got Tohru in this fic.

Furygrrl:  Ah, those were the things I was aiming for!  Thank you very much.  I am so glad you like the story.  I hope you came back for this chapter!

ChibiCat:  So glad to have you back as a reader!  I'm glad you like my Yuki even if you don't like Yuki.  I hope the fog clears soon too!  And though I'm not sure "better than perfect" is a bit much, I thoroughly enjoy the compliment!

Mizaya:  You're a pancake too.  I have a comedic mind?  Really?  I'm never entirely sure it's just not silliness!  Do you feel lucky knowing the end?  *hugs Mizaya*

Syaoranbabe17:  I hope you feel better about Yuki now.  I have full confidence that he will find someone.  At least he has a blender.  Thank you so much for your review!!

Purrfect679:  I'm happy to see your name again!!  Thank you for the review.  Tohru and Kyo will be happy!  And so will Yuki!

SAL-chan:  Oh, thank you!  I saw that you also reviewed my other story.  Thank you so much!   I really appreciate having you as a reader for your encouragement and enthusiasm.  


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